Standard Starship Scuffle: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Space battles are always [[This Is Reality|a lot more exciting on TV]] than they are in real life...''|'''Col. John Sheppard''', ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''}}
This is the [[Super-Trope]] for many [[Tropes in Space|tropes]] and clichés concerning ship-to-ship combat... [[Ship-to-Ship Combat|the
[[Space Fighter
It may be [[The Climax]] of a tense [[Mexican Standoff|standoff]], the conclusion of a [[Stern Chase]], or the outcome of a [[With Catlike Tread|cunning surprise attack]]. Two [[Cool Starship
In a ''really'' [[Rule of Drama|dramatic]] battle, he or she may turn to [[Crazy Enough to Work|daring and original plans]]
Once damage has had some time to accumulate, and the [[Crazy Enough to Work|daring plan]] has had a chance to either work impressively or fail spectacularly, one of the ships will usually find it prudent to invoke the [[Know When to Fold'Em|Thirty-Sixth Stratagem]] and attempt a [[Hyperspeed Escape]]. An [[Lawful Good|honourable opponent]] will let them go; a lowly [[Space Pirate]] may get out the [[Tractor Beam|boarding hooks]] instead, and prepare a [[Boarding Party]]. If the quarry manages to slip away, there may be a [[Stern Chase]].
If neither side is willing to retreat, sooner or later one of the [[Cool Ship
Note that such a confrontation need not be an epic [[Final Battle]]. Starship Scuffles are routine in [[Space Opera]], and may be used to [[Standard Establishing Spaceship Shot|establish the setting]], throw a minor obstacle in the protagonists' path, introduce a villain, or even just provide a lead-in to other, more important parts of the plot. Of course, [[Space Battle|epic battles in sci-fi settings]] often ''will'' make use of this trope.
When this trope is [[Averted Trope|averted]], it will generally be done in one of two ways: Either large ships will engage in [[Old School Dogfighting]], displaying manoeuvrability usually reserved for [[Space Fighter
To see the different kinds of ship likely to be involved, inspect the [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]]. If the ships are [[The Battlestar|Battlestars]], this trope may occur side-by-side with [[Old School Dogfighting]]. This trope is not to be confused with [[Space Battle
{{examples}}
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* The various ''[[Star Trek]]'' films, nach. ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Wrath of Khan]]'', ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|The Undiscovered Country]]'', ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|First Contact]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Insurrection|Insurrection]]''... ''[[Star Trek]]'' is essentially the [[Trope Codifier]], after all.
** In the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' film, we see some beautiful examples, though aversions of [[Point Defenceless]] and a general reduction in the amount of [[Techno Babble]] from previous Trek incarnations make it a less straight example than most.
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' gives ''far'' more focus to [[Old School Dogfighting]] between [[Space Fighter|small fighters]] than to this trope. Usually when capital ships engage each other it is a brief fight. One side will be attempting a [[Hyperspeed Escape]] from the very start, or the fight will be a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] with one side at a huge disadvantage, and in either case there will be little time for a
** ''[[Star Wars]]'' plays this trope straight in the opening battle of ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]''. Among other things it lets us take a look at the starships' broadside cannons. The only thing they lack is that they're not muzzle-loaded.
** The Battle of Endor from ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' starts out more as a Battle of Midway-style melee, with snub fighters attacking the enemy capital ships, but once the Death Star cranks up its superlaser the Rebel cruisers have no choice but to go in and engage the Imperial Star Destroyers toe-to-toe so that at least the Death Star can't get a clear shot at them. The novelization sort of lampshades it; there's a line to the effect that the opposing capital ships are now exchanging broadsides at point-blank range like the oceangoing vessels of another time and place.
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Starcraft]]'' features this trope both in-game, and in an animation that plays on one of the menu buttons.
* ''[[Gratuitous Space Battles]]'' was explicitly designed to provide a pure fix of
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' averts
** The space battle at the end of the first game looks a little more like a dogfight. The space battles in [[Mass Effect 2]] are all between the same two ships, and manage to give the impression of an aircraft attacking an oceangoing ship.
** The battle in the first game is a ludicrously short-ranged one for the setting; the Citadel flagship is actually unable to bring it's main weapon to bear fast enough before being overwhelmed by smaller enemies much lighter human Cruisers take out in a single shot.
** The battles in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' tend to be one-sided on the part of the {{spoiler|Reapers}}. However, we do get to see geth and quarian fleets slug it out without much maneuvering involved. Interestingly, despite the Codex claiming that the quarian heavy capital ships were upgraded with the [[Wave Motion Gun|Thanix cannons]], we never actually see them in action. They keep using their standard [[Magnetic Weapons]].
* ''[[Infinite Space]]'' has this to a hilt, especially in cutscenes.
* The [[X (video game)|X]]-Universe games often feature slug fests between capital ships at fairly short ranges, even though the weapons will reach out
* ''[[Star Trek Legacy]]'', ''[[Star Trek Bridge Commander]]'' and the ''[[Star Trek Starfleet Command]]'' games all feature this heavily, as their respective settings lack [[Space Fighter
* ''[[Nexus the Jupiter Incident]]'' is a game designed around this concept. While there are fighters in the game, they're pretty much useless until the enemy's [[Point Defenseless|flak]] [[Beam Spam|lasers]] are disabled. All fights are big slugfests, especially the climactic fight in the penultimate mission, where the player's fleet must fight against the constantly incoming enemy ''fleets''. Lasers are specifically used to knock out enemy systems but don't do much physical damage. The other weapons are meant to damage the hull ([[Magnetic Weapons|mass drivers]]) and shields ([[Energy Weapon|energy shells]]).
** Also of note is that [[Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon|Fixed Forward Facing Weapons]] are the exception, not the rule. Most guns are turreted and located all over the hull, so you will often see ships rotating to bring additional weapons to bear while the ones currently facing the enemy are recharging.
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